Nevada suffers setback on foreclosure rate

Just when it seemed Nevada’s foreclosure rate was improving, the state’s volume of distressed real estate catapulted last month.

Nevada had the second-highest foreclosure rate in the country in October, with 1 in every 352 housing units saddled with foreclosure-related filings, according to a report published today by RealtyTrac.

That’s up 41 percent from September, when Nevada ranked fifth-worst in the country with 1 in 496 homes in foreclosure. At the same time, it was down 47 percent from October 2011, the same month that Nevada’s “robo-signing law” took effect and helped slow the pace of these public auctions.

Florida was the hardest-hit state last month with 1 in 312 homes in foreclosure. Nationally, 1 in 706 homes was in foreclosure, says RealtyTrac.

Nevada led the country in foreclosures for 62 consecutive months until March when it dropped to the No. 2 spot. It reclaimed the dubious No. 1 ranking in April but fell to No. 3 in May.

The robo-signing law, Assembly Bill 284, forces banks to provide more paperwork before they foreclose on homes. Nevada’s foreclosure rate was fifth-highest in the country in both September and August, and sixth-highest in July.